Hideyoshi ordered his tea master to kill himself in 1591, and the Sen family won back the name that three tea houses still carry

Sen no Rikyū was born in Sakai in 1522. He became tea master to Oda Nobunaga in 1579 and to Toyotomi Hideyoshi after 1582. In 1591 Hideyoshi ordered him to commit seppuku. The reason is not settled. A nippon.com history says no document confirms the manner or the date of his death. His legitimate heir was his son Dōan. His son-in-law Shōan was recognized instead as the second head and restored the Sen household in Kyoto. In 1595 Hideyoshi pardoned Rikyū's two children, who had been banished from Kyoto, and returned his tea utensils to his grandson Sōtan. Sōtan gathered back the family property and Rikyū's utensils. When he retired he divided the estate in three, and three of his sons founded three houses: Omotesenke, Urasenke and Mushakōjisenke. The title of grand master (iemoto) became fixed in these families by 1757. Each head takes a hereditary name on succession. The Omotesenke head is always Sōsa; the 15th, born in 1970, holds it now. Urasenke's head is Sen Sōshitsu XVI and Mushakōjisenke's is Sen Sōshu XIV. Rikyū's grave is at Jukō-in in Daitoku-ji, and the three houses hold memorials for him every year.